New treatment method being tested in clinical study. Hamburg-based researchers are seeking to improve future treatment of HIV patients using a new gene and cell method. Under the umbrella of Hamburg biotech startup Provirex, they are developing a new therapeutic approach that uses ‘gene scissors’ to cut out the blueprint of the AIDS pathogen HIV...
by Baylor College of Medicine Low blood sugar levels, known as hypoglycemia, can be a life-threatening situation, especially for people with type 1 diabetes who rely on intensive insulin therapy to prevent blood sugar from going too high. Solutions to this problem may come from a better understanding of the basic mechanisms keeping blood sugar...
The mammalian cell lines that are engineered to produce high-value recombinant-protein drugs also produce unwanted proteins that push up the overall cost to manufacture these drugs. These same proteins can also lower drug quality. In a new paper in Nature Communications, researchers from the University of California San Diego and the Technical University of Denmark...
by University of Glasgow A small piece of genetic material could hold the key to diagnosing and treating high blood pressure earlier, according to new research by scientists at the University of Glasgow, who found that a small piece of genetic material could explain why arteries become increasingly stiff (which happens in high blood pressure)...
Long understood as source of novel genetic traits, jumping genes also provide genomic stability WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE “Jumping genes” — bits of DNA that can move from one spot in the genome to another — are well-known for increasing genetic diversity over the long course of evolution. Now, new research at Washington University...
Soybean oil linked to metabolic and neurological changes in mice UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – RIVERSIDE New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Used for fast food frying, added to packaged foods, and fed to livestock,...
The technology, called deterministic mechanoporation (DMP), consists of a microfluidic device that allows large numbers of living cells to be injected with genetic materials. Unlike the biochemical approaches that are typically used, the new approach is mechanical. Using fluid flow, cells are dragged toward microscopic needles within the device. The cells are pierced and immediately...
by American Society of Nephrology New research indicates that the benefits of a dietary compound on kidney health may depend on an individual’s genetics. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of JASN, may be helpful for tailoring interventions to prevent or treat kidney disease. Glutathione S-transferase mu-1 (GSTM1) is an enzyme that plays...
by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore A global research team led by scientists from Singapore and the United States has discovered new evidence that there is an underlying link between degeneration of the eye and brain. They found that genetic variation at a beta-amyloid gene was significantly associated with increased risk of...
JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE In a bid to determine factors linked to the most debilitating forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified three so-called “complement system” genes that appear to play a role in MS-caused vision loss. The researchers were able to single out these genes — known to be...
